This invention is concerned with molecularly miscible blends of polyvinyl phenol and polyketone polymers.
The general class of polymers of carbon monoxide and one or more ethylenically unsaturated hydrocarbons has been known for some years. Brubaker, U.S. Pat. No. 2,495,286, produced such polymers of relatively low carbon monoxide content in the presence of free radical catalysts such as benzoyl peroxide. British Pat. No. 1,081,304 produced such polymers of higher carbon monoxide content in the presence of alkylphosphine complexes of palladium as catalyst. Nozaki extended the process to arylphosphine complexes of palladium. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,412.
More recently, the class of linear alternating polymers of carbon monoxide and unsaturated hydrocarbons, now known as polyketones, has become of greater interest, in part because of improved methods of production. Such methods are shown by European Patent Applications Nos. 0,181,014 and 0,121,965. The disclosed processes employ, inter alia, a compound of a Group VIII metal such as palladium, an anion of a non-hydrohalogenic acid having a pKa below 2 and a bidentate ligand of phosphorus. The resulting polymers are generally high molecular weight thermoplastic polymers having utility in the production of articles such as containers for food and drink and parts for the automotive industry or structural members for use in the construction industry.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,689,460 and 3,694,412 disclose two other processes for preparing polyketones. The catalysts described therein are complexes of a palladium, chloride or allyl palladium chloride and two trihydrocarbyl phosphine monodentate-like ligands, such as triphenylphosphine.
Another process for preparing polyketones is discussed by Sen and Li in an article entitled "Novel Palladium (II)--Catalyzed Copolymerization of Carbon Monoxide With Olefins", J. Am Chem. Soc. 1982, 104, 3520-3522. This process generates higher yield than the other disclosed processes.
The process for preparing polyketones of European Patent Application 0121965 is directed towards a preparation of polyketones to obtain a high yield, wherein a mixture of carbon monoxide and alkenically unsaturated hydrocarbon is polymerized in the presence of a Group VIII metal catalyst containing ligands, wherein hydrocarbon groups are bonded to an element from Group Va, characterized in that, as catalyst, a complex compound is used that is obtained by reacting a palladium, cobalt or nickel compound, a bidentate ligand of the general formula: EQU R.sub.1 R.sub.2 --M--R--M--R.sub.3 R.sub.4,
in which M represents phosphorous, arsenic or antimony, R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, and R.sub.4 are identical or different hydrocarbon groups, and R represents a divalent organic bridging group having at least two carbon atoms in the bridge, none of these carbon atoms carrying substituents that may cause stearic hinderance, and an anion of an acid with a pKa of less than two, provided the acid is neither a hydrohalogenic acid nor a carboxylic acid.
Even though there have been disclosed numerous processes for preparing polyketones, the polyketones have generally not been blended with other substances to form molecularly miscible blends.
It has been long desired to provide molecularly miscible blends of polyketones and other polymers.
It has been desired to provide miscible blends of polyketones with a variety of substances to result in new miscible blends with good creep and modulus.